The Story of Us
by Rainheart Warrior
Summary: Freddy Fazbear was built to be an entertainer. That's all he ever thought would happen to him - getting up on stage, saying and singing a thing or two, then spending nights with his fellow cohorts. But when some huge events unfold in front of the lead singer, his life is turned upside down. Enjoy this tale of my interpretation of the Five Nights at Freddy's timeline! T for violence
1. Prologue - Fredbear and Hopper

**Hey, all!**

**So.**

**Brand new idea I had the last couple of weeks. You may have seen a notice for an FNaF Fic on ASAtB if you follow me. But, I just had an idea for a new FNaF Fic, and that's this one! I might do the one that I talked about on ASAtB once this story is complete.**

**Twisted is currently in the works. But! Since the fandom that this story centers around is currently at its height, I thought I'd just get this out as soon as possible! I was inspired by Koili the Artist's story **_**Brothers of Circuits**_**, and have been dying to do a **_**Five Nights at Freddy's**_** tale myself.**

**After much consideration between the names "The Journey", "Don't Stop Believing", and "We're All in this Together", I've settled on the first.**

**The following story will be based upon my observation of the FNaF timeline, and mainly through the eyes of Freddy Fazbear. It will not be a first-person, but will focus around the narration of his thoughts, exactly how my Warriors FanFiction **_**Twisted **_**focuses around Twistedfoot. (Note: now that I'm starting an FNaF story, I'm slowly beginning to despise my username)**

**Now, without further ado, the prologue of my newest creation, **_**The Journey**_**.**

**EDIT: I've changed the name to "The Story of Us"!**

* * *

It was dark at first. He didn't hear much. Noise was the fuzzy, distant hum of air whizzing past. Slowly, he began to feel something on his feet. Flat, solid material: flooring. Though he did not know this. He didn't know anything. He could faintly hear, and vaguely feel. Hours passed as he stood there. The darkness began to clear, and light, slowly but surely, filtered through. He began to feel more than the ground at his feet, but a poking and prodding at his mouth and chest. The prods turned to shoves, and the shoves turned to violent cranks.

Finally, his eyes flung open. Immediately he squinted them shut again against the brutal rays of light frying his sensors. When he stood still again, silently observing now that his senses were strengthening, he realized that there was an odd little pale creature, with a darker one standing beside it. The pale thing had some sort of metal instrument to his chest, which when upon looking, he realized had been pried open. A great many buttons and wires and dozens of other gadgets and gizmos to which he could not name rested upon a single circuit board inside his chest. The pale creature was working in this.

He stood still, watching the creature work. He looked up at the other darker-toned one. It was carrying some sort of bucket holding a whole plethora of instruments. It was the first to realize that he'd woken. He didn't understand their speech at first, but he twitched his ears to listen.

"'Ey Jim, get a load o' this. The bear's awake."

The pale creature at his chest jumped back, surprising him. "You're right." The pale creature tapped his nose. "Guess is AI chip is startin' to boot."

He blinked a little, twitching his ears. After a moment, his eyes went to a bit of static. He squinted them shut again, shaking his head. When they were open, his AI filled him with knowledge.

_Fredbear_, he thought. _That's my name._

"Big yellow softy," the dark-toned creature laughed, patting Fredbear's shoulder. His touch surprised the animatronic.

_Bear? _he thought. _What's… "bear"?_

Quick as a flash, an explanation buzzed through his AI chip. _Analysis of "bear": a carnivorous or omnivorous mammal in the Ursidae family, closely related to canines. _Then a picture of a grizzly bear flashed across his vision. He blinked in surprise, understanding.

"F-Fred-d-d." Fredbear began stuttering glitchy words.

"Hold on," the one called Jim said. He started entwining more wires together. Suddenly, he slammed the panel on Fredbear's chest shut. Fredbear blinked. He opened his jaw again, and a noise came out. "Aaaaaaah…" Jim fiddled with his jaw a bit. "Aaahiii…" Jim tightened the loose bolts. "Hi. Hello."

Jim smiled. "Well, Alby, looks like enough work for today."

The dark-toned one, Alby, nodded.

Fredbear looked around. His AI chip spilled all kinds of information. _Analysis of human: a man, woman or child from the family _Homo sapiens sapiens_, distinguished from other organisms by superior mental development, power of articulate speech, and upright stance._

"L-like me-e!" Fredbear said out loud. He liked hearing his own voice. "I a-am hu-human!"

Alby gave a hearty laugh. "Ah no, you're like a human, but you ain't."

Fredbear cocked his head. He opened his jaw, letting the robotic voice spill the explanation a second time, this time out loud to the pair of technicians. "Hu-human?"

Jim shook his head. "You're an animatronic."

Fredbear blinked again, twitching his ears confusedly. "Animatronic," he repeated, the glitchy voice evening out. He searched his AI chip again. _Analysis of animatronic:_ the robotic voice buzzed inside his again, _of, relating to, or being a puppet of or similar figure that is animated by means of electromechanical devices._ A photo of a large, yellow animatronic rabbit flashed across his vision. He blinked it away, then nodded at Jim.

"Funny, I didn't think his AI had the capacity to take words from his programmed songs and speeches and use them. I know we put it in but I didn't think it would work."

"Does that mean he's capable of speech?" Alby asked as he held the bucket, Fredbear analyzing it to be a toolbox.

"Very primitive speech. He takes words from the jokes, speeches and songs that were programmed in his voicebox to make tiny sentences. That's why the words sound glitchy, uneven and pitchy."

Alby bit his lip. "That's weird."

"Very. But it takes a lot of gears in him, so I doubt he'll do it too often. 'Ey, pal?" He patted Fredbear as Alby had, but this time on the head.

Fredbear liked the feel of that. He decided to give the human a pat as well. He held up his arm, watching it curiously, then moved his fingers. He opened his jaw in a gaping, goofy grin at it. He put his paw on the technician's head, moving it up and down in a patting motion.

Jim winced with a laugh. "I appreciate that, buddy," he gently removed Fredbear's paw, much to the animatronic's confusion, "but your paw is a bit harder than my hand."

Fredbear looked down at his fabric-coated metal paw. He blinked, moving his fingers. He searched his AI for the contents. _Animatronic consistency analysis: paw is made from multiple parts. _There was a map of his paws. _Inner layer is of complex endoskeleton parts intertwining to create movement. Endoskeleton is covered by thick steal molding to add shape to animatronic character. Steel is covered in yellow felt._

Fredbear smiled. _Okay_, he thought. The animatronic bear wondered what to explore about himself next. Life was so new and interesting! His ears perked as he removed his top hat, inspecting it curiously. The hat was a dark, muddy brown color with a black trim. He tipped it this way and that, patting it gently. It was new and shiny, made out of velvety fabric. He placed it back on top of his head, and then remembered that when he'd been watching the human tamper with the wires in his chest, he had seen another dark brown object: a bowtie, as his AI explained. It was made out of the same velvety brown fabric, and Fredbear fiddled with it cheerily.

His curiosity was interrupted by the men packing up their tools. "Alright, hook him up to the charger." Jim shoved a hand lazily in the direction of a black wire connecting to the wall. "He and the other one's got work to do in a couple o' weeks."

_Other one? _Fredbear thought. But his AI did not have an answer.

Alby followed Jim's orders, thrusting open Fredbear's chest panel once more and connecting the loose end of the black wire to the circuit board. The bear felt a rush of energy. At first, it burned a bit – he wanted to remove the object. But quickly, it felt soothing, slowly filling him with electronic power, replenishing his energy. Fredbear wanted to ask questions to the men. He searched his voice box quickly to find words. "Come back soon, kids!" a voice erupted. He tried again. "Fredbear always loves talkin' with y'all!"

The men laughed at Fredbear's desperate attempt to call them back. "Look at that," Alby said. "He's learning to talk." The human gave a dramatic sigh of sarcasm. "They grow up so fast!"

Jim gave a good-hearted chuckle, and the men walked out the door, leaving Fredbear alone. The door shut, and the footsteps continued. Another door opened and shut. The walking continued and stopped periodically. Finally, another door was opened, ringing a little bell. The door was shut, ringing the bell a second time, and the footsteps were no longer heard. Fredbear looked at his feet. He felt lonely.

"Well, hey there!" said a cheery voice.

Fredbear jumped. He looked in the direction of the voice. A huge robot stood there, about the size of Fredbear. But this was not a bear – it was a rabbit.

"Howdy, pal! You look a little flustered." The rabbit smiled at him.

Fredbear looked the bunny up and down. He had the appearance of being about a foot taller due to his floppy ears. He had a muddy brown bowtie like the bear, and he was the same yellow color. He realized that it was the exact same bunny that his AI chip had shown him when he searched up the analysis of the word "animatronic". Fredbear cocked his head.

"Haha! You must be Fredbear, 'ey? I'm Hopper. I suppose you could call me your partner!" The happy rabbit took a step toward him, offering a paw. "You talk, buddy?"

Fredbear held up his own paw, unsure of what to do. Hopper laughed, grabbing his paw and shaking it. "Boy, you're a newbie, that's for sure! It's called a handshake, Fred! Can I call ya' Fred? Fredbear's an awful mouthful for a daily basis!"

Fredbear gulped, nodding. "Great! Call me what you will, I don't mind. Hopper, Hops, Hop-Along, don't matter to me!"

Fredbear was surprised by the animatronic's outgoing nature. He was even more confused by the way the rabbit was communicating. To a human, the words and sentences the bunny was putting together would sound like static. But to Fredbear, it was crystal clear and understandable. It was as though they had their own animatronic language.

Hopper finally pulled his hand away, leaving Fredbear shaking the air for a second. Embarrassed, he brought his paw back to his side. Hopper folded his arms, a friendly smirk on his face. Fredbear felt an odd calm at the snarky expression. "But like I said Fred, you talk?"

Fredbear paused. Then he gave a smile, nodding. He opened his jaw and let his voice box pick out a couple of programmed words which he would say to the kids while up on stage once they were set up. "So who here knows the words to Fredbear's favorite song?" "Enjoying your pizza? I'm enjoying seeing all of you today!"

Hopper laughed, waving his hands dismissively. "Nah, none of that human nonsense! It's all just gibberish. I'm talkin' our language, pal! Can you talk to me?"

Fredbear shrugged. Hopper smirked. "Ah, come on, give it a try." Fredbear looked at his feet, shaking his head like a child being scolded. Hopper patted his shoulder. "It's easy! Just work with your voice box a little."

Fredbear looked at him for a minute, then shrugged, but gave a slightly more determined nod. The bear opened his jaws, trying to reach a place in his voice box. For a moment, he was able to alter one of his programmed speeches. "I-I… Hold on…" then right back to human English.

"Good effort, good effort my furry friend! Three words're better than none!" Hopper was clapping now, eliciting loud clangs that echoed off the walls. "C'mon, give it another try!"

Fredbear was grinning, proud of himself. He fumbled with his voice box some more. Minutes passed of glitching and a mix of static and human English. Then, suddenly, he felt his voice box twitch into place. "H-h…" he began, "He-hello…"

"Yes, yes! Go! Go! C'mon, you can do it!" Hopper was leaning in with anticipation.

"H-hello… I-I'm-I'm Fredbear. N-Ni-Nice to meet y-you, Hopper."

Hopper gave jump followed by a fist-pump, which made a loud bang when he collided once more with the floor. "Yes! Do it again, do it again!"

"F-Fre-Fredb-bear. F-Fre-Fredbear. F-Fredbear. Fredbear, Fredbear, F-Fredbear." He continued repeating his name over and over until the glitching finally ceased. "Fredbear. Fredbear! Hey, listen to that! I can talk! I can _talk_!"

Hopper laughed again. "Alright!" He held up a fisted hand. Fredbear flinched away. His AI chip informed him that a fist usually meant a punch would follow.

Hopper giggled. "Oh no, I'm not gonna hit you! It's a fist bump, see?" He demonstrated with his other free hand, gently bumping the two. "Harmless." He held it up again, waiting.

Fredbear looked down at his paw. It was different from Hopper's hand. Fredbear's only had four fingers on each, while Hopper had five like the humans. Could he clench it like the rabbit? He tried. It worked.

Hopper raised his eyebrows, smiling. "Heh? Fist bump, go on!"

Fredbear raised his fisted paw, gently tapping Hopper's. "Like that…?" he asked hesitantly.

"Harder!" Hopper exclaimed. "That was a baby punch. The kids who come here could do better than that."

Fredbear looked at his paw, hitting harder this time.

"Atta'boy!" Hopper chirped, retracting his hand again. A moment of silence passed, then Hopper smirked again. "Bet'cha don't even know where we are, do ya' Fred?"

Fredbear realized that he hadn't given that much thought. He shook his head, looking around the room. The space was crowded with tools, masks, unfinished endoskeletons and various animatronic parts and wires.

"This room ain't the whole world, pal!" Hopper made a shushing motion with his fingers, then turned the knob on the door. It clicked open, and Hopper nodded toward the opening. Fredbear looked through. What he saw was a long hallway with multiple doors on its sides. At the end of the hallway was a room. He saw a small glimpse of a few tables with party hats lined up. He looked back at Hopper confusedly.

"We're entertainment for little kids," the rabbit said. He seemed a bit more crestfallen now. Fredbear was confused.

"Is that bad?" he asked.

"Nah, not really. But we're locked in here all day long."

Fredbear creased his brow in confusion. "Huh?"

Hopper explained. "By day, we stand on a stage and perform for children. For about… I dunno, twelve hours straight?" He chuckled at Fredbear's shocked expression. "We get Sundays off. By night we can walk freely around unless we're low on power. Then we have to get hooked up to a power outlet all night."

Fredbear blinked. "Is anything wrong with that?"

"We have no freedom," Hopper sighed. "They won't let us go outside – we might get 'damaged'," he imitated a technician's voice. "Like we can't tell our left from our right, sheesh."

Fredbear smiled. "But why would need to go outside? It's exciting enough in here!"

Hopper laughed. "We'll get bored after a few years, I bet. Anyhow, I guess it ain't all too bad. It's our job, I s'pose. We ain't got a choice."

Fredbear twitched his ears. He removed his hat, holding it to his chest with both paws. "Can we explore?"

Hopper paused. "Hm." He looked out the door again. "Don't see nobody." After a moment, he turned back to Fredbear. "Why the heck not? Ain't got nothin' better to do!"

Fredbear smiled, putting his top hat back on his head. "Where do we go first?"

"Don't rightly know! The place is new, and all ours for the taking. Besides, we're the masters around here! The main attraction, the big guys!"

Fredbear laughed. "So we make the rules?"

"Oh, no, no, no, o' course not!" Hopper said.

Fredbear blinked. "But you just said –"

"Ah, I was talkin' big. We're not in charge. That's the boss, the big man. The management."

"The management?"

"Yep. The management owns this establishment. Fancy guys in suits. They've got their little minion employees around here in grimy uniforms with silly tags sayin', 'My name is So-and-So'."

"I'm confused," Fredbear replied.

"The management is the group of rich men who own this place. They're off in their mansions and offices, living off the income _we _make for 'em." He straightened his bowtie. "They run it and make the rules. There are the employees, which are the humans you'll see running around day by day. They're mostly teenagers lookin' for a little cash. They make sure all the kids are seated, tables are waited on with pizza, and the two of us are in place."

Fredbear's ears perked up. "Pizza?"

"From what I hear, it's rather tasty." Hopper giving a rumble of pleasure at the thought. "We'll try some later. The coolest part is that the chefs make it right at your table! They keep all the dough and supplies in the office down the right hallway." He nodded down the hall to the right. Fredbear peeked out.

The hallway to the right of the storage room that they were in was much longer than the hallway that led straight ahead from them. But Fredbear could catch a small glimpse of a wooden desk in the center of a relatively average-sized room. The desk was crammed with TV screens, papers, loose batteries, and various remotes and flashlights. A large fan and tablet stood in the center of the messy desk. A swivel chair sat behind it, and behind those were multiple posters.

He turned back to Hopper. "Let's go get a closer look!"

Hopper nodded. "If you want." Hopper unplugged the charger from Fredbear's chest. The two stepped out the hinged door, quietly clicking it shut. "Now don't be all too loud. There might be humans about."

"What's the harm in that? The humans are supposed to be our companions."

"We might spook them. Giant robots clankin' around a pizzeria by themselves ain't all too uplifting for people!"

Fredbear nodded. "Okay." The two performers walked down the hall. They passed four rooms, each with tables cluttered with party hats. Eventually, they stepped into the wide office.

There was one thing for sure: it was a dump. More TVs had been stuffed into the corners, and a few posters hung on the walls. There was a vent on each side wall and right down on the floor, which was odd. They even had light switches above them. Fredbear clicked one. To his surprise, it lit up the inside of the vent.

"What's the point of that?" the bear wondered out loud. Hopper looked over.

"No idea. Maybe to see if the vent's clogged? Ventilation ain't always perfect."

The two shrugged it off, paying no mind to the other odd factor that that, instead of a door leading into the office, it was a huge, gaping opening. They explored a little longer, going from room to room, table to table, even checking out the bathroom stalls, which, since there had not yet been any customers, were sparkling clean.

Eventually, they came to the party room. It was full of tables crowded with festive banners and posters, and of course the party hats. But that was not what excited the two animatronics.

The most interesting part was the stage. It was wide and wooden, overlooking the room like a grand plateau. The two characters climbed on it, checking out the view. Fredbear peered at the huge banner which stretched across the back wall of long stage.

"'Fredbear's Family Diner'," he read out loud.

Hopper paused, then turned to him with a goofy grin. "Looks like we have a restaurant to entertain."

* * *

Weeks of preparation passed. Fredbear and Hopper were moved to the main stage so they would be set and ready to work. The two were constantly turned on, and even interacted with the employees as they worked on the lighting and props and such.

Hopper gave Fredbear a nudge the day before their first performance. "Hey! I heard some interesting news."

"News?" Fredbear asked absently. He was twiddling his thumbs and staring out at the tables, far too nervous about their first time on stage to think about any "interesting news".

"You know how the technicians been goin' back and forth to Parts &amp; Service? Y'know, where we were 'fore they moved us up here?"

"Uh-huh," Fredbear muttered again.

Hopper tapped him on the shoulder. "'Ey. This is genuinely interesting, Fred. And it'll totally affect us. You should listen."

Fredbear nodded apologetically. "Sorry, just distracted. So go on, what's this about interesting news?"

Hopper grinned, tapping his huge rabbit feet. "Well, I heard the employees talking 'bout some, 'new additions' to the performance crew. That's us!"

Fredbear's eyes widened. "New additions?" he echoed. "You mean, more members of our band?"

"Yessiree!" Hopper exclaimed, giving as little bounce. "Ain't ya' excited, Fred? New friends! More members of the Family Diner family!"

Fredbear was truly excited. He was eager to meet more than just Hopper. But something itched at him. "You sure they won't, y'know…"

"I know what?" Hopper asked, cocking his head which caused his bunny ears to flop to the side.

"Nothing. Never mind."

"What is it, Fred?" Hopper pressed.

"Put a rift in our friendship, I guess?" He felt awkward and selfish saying this.

Hopper stepped back. "You mean, I'd let one of those guys replace you? Whoa there, Fredbear!" He patted his shoulder. "You're my little brother! Nobody could come between brotherhood, ya' understand?"

Fredbear smiled. "Alright, sorry I mentioned it."

Hopper gave his usual good-hearted laugh. "No need to apologize, Fred. Gotta say, I wasn't totally comfortable with it me'self. But as long as I know you feel the same way, guess I shouldn't be too worried!" He patted Fredbear on the back, causing a loud clang that startled a few nearby workers.

The first day came up. Fredbear stood behind the curtain with Hopper, who held a little red guitar. He gulped. Why did he have to be the singer? He knew Hopper sang backup, but he didn't like being front and center. He was nervous.

"Fred?" came a whisper. It was dark behind the curtain, but Fredbear knew the only one it could be was Hopper.

"Yeah?" he replied in a hush.

"You okay?" Hopper asked.

"Fine," Fredbear replied. "Just a little anxious."

Hopper gave him a soft pat on the back, followed by a quiet chuckle. "Don't worry. You just gotta open your mouth, and that stupid human nonsense will fall out!"

Fredbear smiled. "Okay. Just back me up, will ya'?"

"What else can I do?" Hopper joked.

Suddenly, the man in front of the curtain finished talking. Since it was the grand opening, a speaker had introduced the two singers. They drew in a breath, causing the fans in their endoskeletons to turn on and cool their circuits.

"Ready?" Hopper whispered, more quietly than before.

"Okay," was the only thing Fredbear could choke out.

The curtain pulled open. A bright flash of light hit their censors, making them squint. They had to resist the urge to put their arms in front of their faces and flinch. Quickly, though, their eyes adjusted, and a huge crowd of laughing, talking, and crying children were revealed. A few shushes were heard from parents, and most of the kids went wide-eyed and silent with astonishment at the giant bear and rabbit. A few babies cried here and there, and two five-or-six-year-old boys were talking loudly at the front.

Fredbear was silent for a moment. He was afraid he'd start speaking the programmed words but his voice box would get locked up. Or he'd pick out the wrong track. Or he'd slip into animatronic static. Hopper gave him a nudge.

He gave a static cough, then started speaking. "Well, hiya kids!" He said in a far more dorky voice than his static talk with Hopper. "I'm Fredbear, your buddy! We're friends now, right?" He held up a paw to his ear, waiting for the kids to reply.

"Yeah," came a weak call of a few kids from the crowd.

"I can't hear you!" he said.

"Yeah!" the children screamed unnecessarily loud.

Fredbear gave a sarcastic stumble backward. "You blew me away!" The kids laughed a bit. "Well, now that you've met me, meet my best friend, Hopper!"

Hopper stepped up, giving his guitar a strum. "Hey, kids! Are we having fun?" his voicebox chimed in a slightly less dorky voice than Fredbear's.

"Yeah!" they all shouted excitedly in unison.

"Well, great! Boy Fredbear, these are some nice kids! You know what they're making me really wanna do?"

Fredbear cocked his head, wiggling his ears. His bow tie spun around comically. The crowd laughed again, even a few parents. "What could you possibly want to do, Hopper?"

"I want to sing!" He held up his guitar, turning back to the crowd. Fredbear did the same.

"Well kids, how does that sound? Should we sing a song?"

"Yeah!" shouted most of the kids. A few older boys who were trying to be funny shouted "no", and a baby started screaming. A couple kids ran right up to the edge of the stage, only to be gently shooed back by a few employees.

"Then let's sing!" So Hopper started strumming his guitar, and Fredbear opened his jaws.

The song began.

They started walking throughout the crowd as they sang, extra careful not to step on a child. A few of the parents and older kids looked a bit shocked at the fact that robots were free-roaming, but the little kids just squealed in excitement.

The day ended quickly. So did the week. A whole month flew by.

Fredbear and Hopper were rising in popularity. People were coming from all around to get a look at the two yellow animatronics. A couple of the younger kids had even started calling Fredbear "Goldie" since "Fredbear" was hard for a few of them to say. Things were looking quite bright for the two brothers when, suddenly, a loud voice reverberated from the Parts &amp; Service.

"They're finished!"

* * *

**There you go, brand new story!**

**Now now, don't blow a gasket – I'm still working on Twisted. I've just hit a tiny bit of writer's block. And my inspiration has been running low. But gee, Five Nights at Freddy's is interesting!**

**If you're confused, this story will be basically how I think the entire timeline happened. Unless Scott Cawthon makes another game! **

**Note: If you're reading this in the far future, this story was published a few weeks after the third game came out. I've seen FanFictions like "Brothers of Circuits" get blown up on since they don't follow the timeline correctly, but people overlook the fact that Koili published the story when the first game was still the only one that was out. So just in case there's a fourth game, pay attention to this note!**

**I hope you guys get interested! If not I'll just flop back to boring old Twisted.**

**Thanks!**


	2. From Dark to Light

**Hey, y'all!**

**Well, guess what! Got some pretty encouraging feedback on the story, especially on my DeviantArt. I posted the cover page (If you're on a computer, you can see it in the top left corner beside the summary) art on my account, and immediately got 9 favorites, 3 comments and 40+ views! I also got two FanFiction reviews!**

**Guess this means I'll be continuing!**

**And yes, the story name was changed to "The Story of Us". "The Journey" makes one think of a quest of sorts, which the animatronics are kind of incapable of as they can't leave the pizzeria! "The Story of Us" implies more of a backstory type thing, which is what this story is.**

**TSoU will now be centered around Freddy Fazbear. The prologue focused on the character of Fredbear in order to set up the story.**

**Enjoy!**

**(P.S. I started this chapter about five months ago since I put the story on hold for FNaF 4, so the cover probably has more views/favorites/comments than that by now. I picked the story back up at "Freddy furrowed his brow and frustrated concentration." I literally started this story ion the last months of seventh grade, and I am now picking it back up again three months into eighth.)**

* * *

There was a buzzing in his ears. He felt his chest ticking ever so slightly as gears turned to make him function. Far more quickly and violently than his one-month-older counterparts, Fredbear and Hopper, the animatronic shuddered to life, giving a static crackle as his voice box was ruptured. Light instantly poured into his sensors, making the character flinch and shut them. He heard a muttering which sounded foreign and confusing to his ears. The animatronic slowly opened his eyes once again, this time letting the rays of light trickle in ever so gradually.

He was in a tiny room, divided by a parapet of sorts, which started at one end of the wall but didn't quite meet the other. The animatronic looked ahead, seeing two odd creatures standing with their hands on their hips. One had a dark complexion, while the other was far lighter toned. The dark one had a short, fuzzy black beard which ran from his ears to his chin and over his mouth in a thin moustache. The pale one had untidy brown hair. Both wore denim overalls and nametags. The pale thing gave a crooked grin. The animatronic liked the friendly grin.

"Look'a'that. Spankin' new robot, fit for a performance."

The dark one gave a deep laugh, followed by an even deeper voice. "Ain't he a beauty? Pass me that wrench, will ya', Jim?"

The pale one, Jim, nodded, handing the darker one an odd tool. He held the tool to the animatronic's shoulder, tightening the loose joint. "This should be the last tweak," he explained. The animatronic liked this creature – his voice was melodic and friendly. He even whistled a bit, which was music to the character's ears.

"Alby, y'all's a true tinkersmith, y'know that?" Jim chuckled.

Alby gave another deep bellied laugh. "Nah, I just have a knack for fixin' things." Jim laughed at this.

The animatronic noticed two pairs of eyes looking at him curiously from the shadows. One pair was green, one a dark red. He cocked his head, causing Alby to pat his arm.

"You wanna meet yer' friends?" He waved at the glowing irises. "'Ey Fred, Hops, y'all get on out here and meet yo' new pal."

The characters stepped from behind the parapet wall, smiling warmly. The animatronic perked his ears. One was a large yellow rabbit with a brown bow tie and two buttons. The other was a yellow, almost golden bear with a top hat and bow tie exactly like the other's. The rabbit blinked his green eyes, breaking into a grin. He spoke in static talk, which made far more sense to the animatronic than the odd speech of Jim and Alby.

"Howdy!" the rabbit said. "I'm Hopper!"

The bear was a bit quieter. "I'm Fredbear. You can call me Fred." He crossed his arms, giving a similar crooked smirk as Jim's, eyes drooping lazily and eyebrows raised in a cool gesture. "You're new, ain't you?"

The animatronic shrugged, unsure of how to respond. He didn't know how their speech worked, even if he knew exactly what they were saying.

Hopper peered at him, squinting. "You seem pretty confused, huh? Guess your AI chip ain't booted up yet."

Jim was wiping his hands and face on a dirty rag. The quick wash seemed to make his skin even dirtier rather than cleaning it. He clapped his hands together a few times in a sweeping motion, making a surprising amount of dust and grit fly off. "His chip'll start working once we hook 'im up."

Alby nodded, giving a toothy smile. His teeth were straight and pearly white. "Ah'll get him charged." The husky creature grabbed a black wire and hooked it up to the wall. He took the other end in his hands. Thrusting open a panel on the animatronic's chest, he plugged the wire in. Immediately, he felt a rush of power through his body. It tingled and stung and buzzed through his head, making him dizzy and dazed with dull pain. But soon, the odd swirling of the room and pounding in his chest ceased, his sensors evened out once more, and he felt a wonderful feeling of energy. Rather than the earlier stinging of the wire, it now sent a soothing, almost massaging flow of energy through him. He gaped his mouth open in a goofy grin of thanks, wiggling his ears.

Alby laughed. "You hang tight, Freddy. We'll see you tomorrow to get you and your pals set up." Alby dusted off his hands in the same clapping motion as Jim, slinging the rag he held over his shoulder. He turned to Jim. "Ready to head out?"

_Freddy_, he thought to himself. _That must be me._

Jim nodded, giving a crooked smile with lazy eyes and crossed arms, practically mimicking the stance of Fredbear. "Sure. My kid's at home. Wanted to spend the end of this Saturday with 'im."

"Tom?" Alby asked. "That your boy?"

Jim started grinning with his teeth, now. A prideful smile. "Yeeup. He's six. I'm 'onna take him here once the place is really spiffed up. Fredbear and Hopper been puttin' on a mighty good show, but I want Tom to see the place when it's _really _finished."

Alby smiled. "Fun, fun. 'Ey, what 'bout the other one?" He pointed his finger to the corner.

The three wakeful animatronics turned their heads in unison to where the dark-toned Alby was pointing. Freddy blinked, letting his sensors adjust to the darkness. There before him stood a purple, almost blue rabbit, head hanging down and eyes closed. He had obviously been powered down and not yet booted.

"He ain't been energized yet," Jim explained. "That ol' hare won't see the world for the first time 'till tomorrow."

Freddy peered at the rabbit curiously. It had a bright red bow tie and two black buttons. Freddy peered at his own belly. He also had two black buttons, but no bow tie. The character realized that something was perched upon his head. He felt around until his hands touched a felt cylinder. He removed the thing, realizing that it was a tiny top hat. He looked at Fredbear. His top hat was a bit darker brown. He also had a bow tie. Other than Fredbear's colors and bow tie, he and Freddy were carbon copies. Fredbear had two buttons, a top hat, a microphone clasped in his paw, and exactly the same body shape.

"A rabbit!" Hopper shouted in static. The static outburst startled the pair of technicians, who instantly thrust open the animatronic's chest panel and fiddled with his AI chip for a moment to check that nothing had been broken to evoke the static noise. Hopper grinned mischievously. "Oops."

Fredbear frowned. "Hopper, what'd I tell you 'bout talkin' static in front of humans? Do that too often and they'll think you're broken. Scrap ya', yep."

Hopper laughed. "If you're so upset, then why're you talking, Fred Boy?"

Fredbear grumbled, crossing his arms and falling silent. Freddy blinked in confusion, standing still. He placed his hat back on his head, then poked at his two buttons. He cocked his head curiously.

The two technicians stepped back, closing the panel. "He's fine," Jim announced to Alby, "probably just some sort of stimulus in the wires. Nothin' to worry 'bout."

Alby nodded. "Well, in that case, wanna leave? I'm hungry somethin' fierce."

Jim nodded. "Night, boys," he said to the three robots. They grabbed the tool box, slung their rags over their shoulders, and walked out the door. The animatronics heard a second distant clang of the entrance door shutting, followed by a jingly bell that quickly quieted.

Hopper and Fredbear waited a moment longer, then rushed to the wall, grabbing two black wires each. They hooked the ends to the walls, and – to Freddy's utter shock – opened their chest panels. The two robots plugged themselves in. For a moment, they stood twitching. Freddy's ears stood on edge with worry that they were glitching out of control, until suddenly, their twitching evened out and they relaxed with unison sighs of content. They then turned their attention to Freddy, grinning.

"Charging ourselves," Hopper explained. "Jim and Alby and the rest of the employees always forget to plug us in."

"We're proactive," Fredbear explained. "They don't do it, then we will."

Freddy nodded. He gave a slight static cough, dusting some metal shavings off his knee. The men had been building his form by carving pieces of him bit by bit, and a few dusty shavings still covered his exoskeleton. As he flicked the shavings off, he realized that his exoskeleton had a microscopically thin velvet coating. He rubbed his belly. The coating made him soft - giving a sort of cuddly sensation.

"They wanted us to look cute," Hopper explained. "Fuzzy things attract kids. Simple."

"Makes 'em pretty grabby, though," Fredbear complained. "We'll be waltzin' through the crowd doin' our show, when some little tot reaches his grubby paws out to grab my arm and stroke it."

Freddy shrugged in a "don't sound too bad" sort of way. Fredbear frowned.

"Excuse me. Stroke ain't the word. More like yank, bite, scratch –"

"Fredbear," Hopper growled a bit. "You know that's not usually the case. The kids are kept pretty tame by their parents."

"Huh, yeah. Then comes that one idiot mom or dad or uncle or older sibling or whatever who's too busy doing who-knows-what to notice that their dang kid is yanking my bow tie off."

Hopper gave his partner a cuff on the head, eliciting a loud _bang _of metal colliding with metal and a groan of pain from the bear. "Well excuse me for speaking my mind!"

"You were speaking nonsense. And scaring the newbie, at that." He turned back to a wide-eyed Freddy. "Never mind him, Fredster. He gets grumpy now and again."

"Grumpy, eh?" Fredbear challenged. "You ain't even seen grumpy 'less you try sayin' that again."

"Grumpy, grumpy, grumpy," Hopper echoed teasingly, hands on his hips. Fredbear growled, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

"Very funny," Fredbear huffed. He turned to Freddy. "But no, seriously. Enjoy your spiffy fur while you've still got it. See this?" He presented a huge dark spot on his arm. "Kid spilled his drink on me then laughed about it. Employees here are idiots, so they didn't wash the dang thing off and it stained."

Hopper gave Fredbear a warning bat on the arm. "Don't talk about the employees that way, they're doing their best. C'mon, they're all teenagers; they're not exactly professionals in this field."

"Exactly," Fredbear grumbled. "What we need are professionals."

Hopper rolled his eyes. Suddenly, his ears perked up. "Hey! I bet your AI's charged by now."

Freddy had been lost in their conversation, completely forgetting about the fact that he was hooked to the wall which was powering his chip. He wiggled his ears questioningly.

Hopper grinned. So did Fredbear, finally. The two seemed to be sharing a mutual thought. Or memory? "Let's see if we can get you to talk, 'ey, Fredster?" Hopper chimed.

Freddy gave a grin. Talking sounded interesting. Fun even. He cocked his head. Where did he start?

"Try finding a little sort of… pocket, I guess you could call it – metaphorically, of course – where you can work your voice box around," Fredbear explained. "The speeches you're programmed with for performances should translate into static, and eventually you'll be able to control what you say."

Freddy closed his eyes, opening his mouth. As he clicked into his voice box, a waterfall of human language poured out. "Say Hopper, you and Fredbear said you'd sing me a song!" "Come back next week, kids!" "How's your pizza, everybody?"

Hopper waved his hands, laughing. "Well, obviously your voice box is in working order! Now let's try tapping into your static speech skills. Let's start with something really simple, like… 'hi'."

Freddy nodded, ending the odd English. He gave a few static coughs which glitched in and out of buzzing to human words. "I –" _buzzzzz…. Crack_, "H-hey ki –" _CRACK buzzzz… _"I –" _crack, buzz-CRACK._

Hopper clapped. "You're tapping into it! Now turn those cracks and beeps into words we can understand. Say 'hi'. Can you do that, Fredster?"

Freddy furrowed his brow and frustrated concentration. The animatronic bear worked his jaw from side to side with determination, staring hard at the wall. Suddenly, his eyes skirted to the rabbit. Feeling his gaze get transfixed on the figure, a single, perfectly clear static word erupted from his voicebox.

"Bonnie."

Fredbear and Hopper both blinked, looking at each other in bewilderment. Fredbear turned back to Freddy. "Say that again, boy?"

Freddy turned back to his new friends, surprised by his own voice. What word had he just uttered? "Bonnie," he said again, hesitantly.

Hopper crossed his arms, one ear flopping forward. He smirked coolly. "Could'a sworn I heard ol' Jim saying something about a 'Bonnie'. Reckon he might have been talking about that rabbit?"

Fredbear nodded, his green optic sensors alighting with curiosity. Freddy enjoyed this reaction. Pleasing his new role models was satisfying, and he knew how to do it again. "F-Fre-Fredbear?"

Fredbear clapped his paws together, grinning. "Now that's more like it!" the yellow bear exclaimed, giving a laugh that warmed Freddy's servos and put a grin on his face. "Go on, go on, try saying Hopper's name!"

Hopper nodded, laughing. "Go on kid, you got it!"

Freddy closed his eyes and opened his mouth. "Hhhhhh-Hop-p-per."

Hopper grinned, nodding. "Close enough. It takes practice. Y'all should feel lucky – I didn't have anybody to wake up and greet me and teach me all this stuff, I just had Jim and Alby!"

Fredbear laughed and started making small talk with Hopper about the things they had done in the past month, but Freddy turned away, his eyes falling again on the purple rabbit. His curiosity was overwhelming. He glanced at the Spring Models, who had fallen into a laughing and joking conversation. Freddy then turned his attention to his feet. Tentatively lifting one up, he took a wobbly step. The cord attached to his chest was long, and would last him to the other end of the room, so he didn't need to remove it to get the purple rabbit. The step he took filled him with glee, as walking was strange and difficult and one of the first milestones to starting out his life. He looked up at the rabbit again, slowly walking forward, careful not to trip over himself.

When he finally came face-to-face with the unconscious animatronic, he lifted a furry, brown paw. Staring at his own hand for a moment, Freddy clasped it in and out of a fist. He looked up again at the rabbit, and moved his paw to touch its forehead. It was velvety, like his, and the undercoating of steel was cold from lack of activation. The chilled touch sent a buzzing tingle through his servos, making him blink and flinch his paw away in nervousness.

What did he expect? For it to shudder to life? Freddy frowned, frustrated.

Then, suddenly, he lost all focus, straightened, and his mind went blank.

The gears in his chest started to churn. His blue eyes dilated, and he squeezed the lids shut. Once his eyes were open again, Freddy was pummeled by information. Words, phrases, history, definitions, grammar, comprehension. Images, common sense, manners, coordination. It was so much to contain at once that he felt sick. Stumbling back and clutching his chest, he feared he would regurgitate oil.

Strong arms clasped his sides, holding him steady. Fredbear. "Whoa there, pal! Don't fall apart all at once!"

Freddy looked at his guide, eyes blurry. What was this?

Hopper walked over, unhooking the charger from Freddy's open chest and and grabbing a screwdriver and rag. The charger, one end still connected to the outlet on the wall, fell to the floor at Freddy's feet. The brown bear was surprised when - rather than a serious look of concern – a grin appeared on Hopper's face. "Congrats, Fredster. Your AI has officially booted. Welcome to the world of knowledge."

Freddy blinked in a mix of confusion, bewilderment, excitement, terror and astonishment. The dizzy sensation was still there, and he felt that the blow still held the risk of sending him collapsing to the floor. There was almost no way to describe it. A transition from dark into light was the closest comparison he could make – the _first _comparison he would _ever _make, as he was now capable of doing so. All at once, everything around him made sense. Definitions flooded into his mind, knowledge, basic limb and body coordination, all of it was real. The room he stood in was no longer a bin of mysteries – rather, it was slightly dull to look at.

Fredbear, as slowly as he could manage, released his grip on Freddy. Walking in front of him calmly so as not to startle the now knowledgeable bear, Fredbear smiled. "Heheh, pretty crazy, ain't it?

All Freddy could do was stare. Hungrily, he drank up all he could see in the room. That's a spider, that's a toolbox, that's a floor tile, that's a wall, those are oil stains, those are robotic parts…

…He looked at Bonnie.

That's his future partner.

He looked at the Spring Models.

These are his big brothers.

He looked right at the door.

This is Fredbear's Family Diner.

* * *

**Heyo!**

**So, next chapter! Been a while, eh? As I said before, I was waiting until FNaF 4 was out. Kinda praying there's no FNaF 5 to screw up my plotline…? In which case there will be ANOTHER hiatus. Due to the newest teaser, I'm slightly skeptical.**

**Anyhow, big news! I have an Ask Account for this AU on DeviantArt! It's called Ask-the-Faz-Family, and questions are open! They've actually BEEN open for a while, but I'm just now posting this chapter xD **

**WARNING****! If you want to read this story but also want to look at the ask account, do NOT read the journal entitled "Hello! (Please Read!)" as it literally gives away the entire story! I would appreciate if you read the top part about genders, but do NOT read the timeline if you want to read this story! **

**Thanks for reading! Also, I'm debating whether or not I should change my username to "Rainy Skies." Opinion, anyone?**

**Seeya~!**


	3. What's a Spring Model?

**Hi everybody!**

**So, I was itching to get to the next chapter of TSoU, and, uh, here it is, I guess! Not much else I can think of to say until the Author's Note at the end. Thanks for the kind reviews on **_**Chapter 2: From Dark to Light**_**!**

**Here we go!**

* * *

Freddy had spent most of the night hooked to his charger, wandering the room. Hopper and Fredbear seemed obligated to go practically wherever they liked in this establishment, so they had agreed to spend a few nights with him until he got himself situated, or at least until the mysterious purple rabbit was activated and able to keep him company in the Spring Models' place. Freddy had initially refused in a futile attempt to be polite, saying that his big brothers would be better off in their usual staging area, where they'd be more comfortable. Though, in reality, he was enormously relieved that they had insisted, as he was, indeed, rather uncomfortable with staying in the Parts &amp; Service room all alone.

Now it was morning, and he had spent all night muttering words to himself, trying to get used to speaking in static language so that he could eventually communicate with his animatronic companions. The first rays of morning were seeping out from beneath the door – there were no windows in Parts &amp; Service, so rays of light shone through the door from the windows outside – and Freddy was starting to feel exhausted. Hopper and Fredbear had stayed up with him for as long as they could, bless their souls, but eventually had no choice but to power down. Their chargers were still on the stage, and despite the multiple outlets around the room, they had not been charging. Their energy couldn't possibly hold out for a full night and be replenished in time for a Thursday performance the next day, so the two had powered down.

Freddy felt himself grow drowsy. Even while he was hooked up to the energy wire, his mechanics could only take so much strain. He would have to power down eventually.

Just then, a buzz filled the room, followed by a few beeps and clicks. Fredbear's eyes opened, glowing with green luminescence. Something about the robotic glow sent an uneasy shiver through Freddy's servos. He already knew he could trust the two yellow-colored characters, but the glow just looked creepy. He shrugged the thought away, putting on a smile. "Morning, Fredbear."

Fredbear, whose eyes were still drooping sleepily, immediately perked up. "Fred! You talked!"

Freddy suddenly felt a wave of confusion. If Fredbear was going to go by Fred, what would Freddy go by? "I s'pose so!" Freddy replied.

Fredbear looked over at Hopper, who was still powered down in peaceful bliss. Freddy almost felt bad for the rabbit when Fredbear flung open his chest panel and flipped a couple switches, jerking the animatronic from his slumber.

"Gosh dangit, Fred!" Hopper snatched his partner's hat right off his head in an annoyed gesture. "How many times do I have to tell you _not_ to do that?"

Fredbear chuckled, grabbing his hat out of Hopper's hands and repositioning it between his two wriggling ears. "Just thought I'd wake you up to remind you that we still just so happen to have a brand new bear in our presence that you seem to have completely forgotten about."

Hopper's ears perked up, his two burgundy irises turning to Freddy, his entire head following. "Ah, yeah! Howdy, Fredster! How's it hangin'?"

Freddy couldn't help but find it amusing how these two kept switching between accents. Sometimes they spoke normally, and other times it sounded as though they should have cowboy hats on their heads rather than top hats and floppy ears. He also realized that Hopper seemed to have officially dubbed him "Fredster" whilst Fredbear was still trying to decide on his own nickname for the brown bear. "Great, great. Think I'm getting the hang of this whole talking thing."

Hopper clapped his hands together, obviously satisfied. "That's excellent! I can hear ya's clear as day!"

Freddy grinned. Fredbear smirked. "You still look pretty flippin' goofy and out of place with us two yella' fellas."

Freddy couldn't help it – he let out a laugh. The phrase, "yella' fellas" was so dorky and silly that he had to respond with laughter. Fredbear joined in, but his laugh sounded confused. "What is it?"

"Just what you said: 'yella fellas.' Sorry, thought it was funny." Freddy's laughs subsided to giggles, which melted away into a puddle of grins.

Fredbear chuckled at himself, shaking his head. "You're a strange one, Fred." The yellow bear paused. "Fred… Don't quite work, does it?"

Freddy tipped his head, and Hopper's expression visibly changed as he crossed his arms. "How so?" The rabbit asked.

"If ah'm already Fred, then I can't call Freddy here the same thing."

"What does it matter? Call him Fredster," Hopper added through a yawn.

"Nah, that's your thing," Fredbear repsonded. He rubbed his chin for a moment. The trio sat in silence for a minute before Fredbear snapped his fingers. "I got it!"

Hopper had closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed. All the animatronics in the room were still sitting on the floor, with the exception of Bonnie, who had yet to be activated and didn't really count. The yellow rabbit grinned, and cracked open an eye at Freddy. "Bet it'll be somethin' like Fabio."

"Actually, that's pretty good," Fredbear replied. When Freddy gave him an upset look, Fredbear laughed. "I'm kidding, boy. Here's my real idea. Y'all can keep calling me Fredbear as often as you like, but I'm passing the 'Fred' nickname down to Freddy. Hopper," he turned to his partner, who opened both eyes and raised his eyebrows, but didn't move his head, "remember what the kids were calling me the other day?"

"What, that whole 'Goldie' thing?" Hopper asked.

"That was it. Why don't y'all just call me Goldie or Golden? C'mon, it fits."

It was true. Fredbear was definitely a brighter shade of yellow than Hopper, who was a bit duller. Fredbear had a bumblebee yellow exoskeleton, so the name would fit well.

"Whatever you say, Master Fredbear, but I'm still callin' you Fred once in a while." Hopper's eyes closed again.

"Good that." Fredbear got comfortable again, letting out a static sigh. "Jim and Alby should be back today. Weren't they gonna boot up the purple bunny?"

Hopper shrugged. "Thought so."

Freddy had been running the new nickname for Fredbear – "Goldie" – through his mind when the subject was brought up. "What, you mean Bonnie?" he finally joined in.

Fredbear and Hopper both looked at him. Glancing at each other, Fredbear spoke. "That his name?" He nodded to the robotic lavender lagomorph.

Freddy nodded his head. "My AI told me so. Wasn't it programmed into yours?"

Fredbear and Hopper shook their heads simultaneously. "They haven't messed with our AIs recently," Hopper informed him. "So we must not have been updated with the latest information." His face seemed to harden a bit. "Luckily, the capacity to physically learn things without a data update is well within our abilities." Hopper said this with the slightest hint of scorn, as though the idea were an insult.

Freddy flinched, understanding that he should pull away from the subject of the Artificial Intelligence chips. "Anyways, what do you think Bonnie and I'll be doing?"

Hopper had begun fiddling with some nuts and bolts he picked up off the floor. "I dunno. Probably backup singing."

Freddy blinked. Authorities had quickly changed since yesterday. Fredbear seemed more in charge now while Hopper took on the air of being laid back and lazy. "Backup singing?" Freddy asked. "That's it?"

Hopper looked up. His entire mood had changed since he had woken up only a couple of minutes ago. "What, you wanna sing a solo or somethin', Julie Andrews?"

"Hopper, shut up," Fredbear ordered, though the redirect sounded less harsh than expected. He looked back at Freddy. "It'll probably only be for a while, just until the technicians can really find a spot for you. I mean, you two." He gestured a hand to Bonnie.

Freddy nodded. He looked sheepishly at Hopper, who rolled his eyes. "Don't sweat it, Brownie," he told Freddy. "Sometimes I get a little snappy for no reason."

Freddy nodded. "Yeah… sorry."

Fredbear clapped his hands together. "You have _got _to fix these mood swings o' yours, Hopper!" He gave his partner a friendly punch in the arm.

Hopper smirked. "And _you've _gotta fix your hat."

Fredbear's brow creased in confusion. "Huh?"

With a grin, Hopper flicked Fredbear's top hat out of place. The golden bear grumbled, readjusting it and sticking his plastic tongue out at Hopper. "Ha-ha."

Hopper grinned. "I _am _pretty hilarious, aren't I?"

Freddy detached himself from the conversation, allowing his mind to drift. The animatronic felt exhaustion creep into his wires; felt his gears begin to slow. It was time to power down. Glancing down at his chest, he mimicked what Fredbear and Hopper did, quickly unscrewing the bolts that held his chest plate in place and letting the panel swing open on its hinges. He flipped a switch or two, then closed the panel and twisted the screws back in place. Immediately, a sensation of wooziness hit the bear like a freight train. Light faded away as his optic sensors turned off. Sound became a fuzzy blur. His wires calmed and quit sending electrical charges from his AI system throughout the endoskeleton workings of his aesthetic body. A new word popped into his now fuzzy mind.

Sleep.

Sound started to whirr in his ears.

Freddy felt his eyelids lift, but only after a moment did his eyes adjust and turn on. Blinking once, twice, three times, he was finally able to focus. What he saw horrified him.

Fredbear and Hopper were limp. And not in the usual manner of being powered down. Their exoskeletons had the appearance of sagging – their arms limp and lifeless. Their legs were sprawled in every direction. Their eyes were wide open, but no optic sensors could be seen. There were simply holes where the spheres of color and recognition should be, and Freddy could see to the back of the insides of their heads. Their jaws hung open, holding on lazily to their hinges. For some wickedly strange reason, Fredbear had no hands.

But what horrified him were the eyes.

Black pits. Nothingness. Not a drop of life.

Freddy sprang to his feet, screeching in static. He'd only known them for a day and a half, but they were all he had.

In a fit of terror, Freddy whirled around. The purple rabbit still stood there, its head facing down. The eyelids remained closed, the jaw slightly ajar. Its ears flopped forward. A human was tampering with its chest panel. Dark skin with a kind face. A melodic whistle flew from the lips like birdsong. Freddy would know that person from anywhere. It was Alby.

The terrified and furious bear stomped over to Alby. Grabbing him by his shoulder, he yanked the man to attention. Alby's whistling was cut off, and there was a ear-grating screech as his wrench scraped the rabbit's chest in the process of being torn from its job. His mouth hung open, eyes wide with fear. He must be shocked and panic-stricken at the sight of a robot, gripping his shoulder like a handlebar.

"F-Freddy!" Alby choked out, horrified. "Boy – b-buddy, man!" he began to stammer, not knowing what to say. "What's wrong? What I do? D-don't do nothin', I beg of ya, pal!"

Freddy was livid. "What did you do? What's wrong with Hopper and Fredbea- …Gold?" He knew he was talking in static and the man wouldn't understand, but he was completely aghast. He wanted answers immediately, and didn't have the patience to chop together English sentences from his songs and speeches as Fredbear had explained they were able to do.

Alby said nothing, only stared at Freddy's face in horror. "Heaven above, his voice box is glitchin' out o' control!" Struggling to get free from the robotic grip, he started calling for help. "Jim! Jim! Get yo' butt out here and help me, ol' man!"

In an instant, Jim's grease-stained face appeared from behind the parapet wall with an obvious look of concern. He was dragging something in his right hand. Freddy couldn't see what it was, as the other end was behind the wall. He quickly let go of the thing – it looked like a metal rod, riddled with wires – and leapt forward to help. Grabbing Freddy by his shoulder, he yanked the animatronic backwards so that he fell in a heap. The technician knew that a disadvantage of the characters was standing up due to the weight of their size and metal and the limitations to their movements. "Good God, man, what happened?"

Alby's chest was heaving. Freddy looked at the two in anger and disgust. Did they not see the state that his friends were in? "He… he…" Alby stammered.

"He what, Al? What he do?" Jim had one foot on Freddy's chest, the other tapping impatiently on the tile floor. "What in God's name happened?" For a moment, he seem too rushed with adrenaline and confusion for his Southern drawl to hang upon his accent, while Alby's never seemed to falter. "Answer already!"

Alby swallowed, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his grease rag. "I was tinkerin' with Bonnie when all o' a sudden Fred here just whipped out o' nowhere, screaming static at me."

Jim looked at Freddy. The scorn in his face made the bear feel the slightest hint of shame, but it was replaced by worry. What was wrong with his friends? "Freddy, what the hell is wrong with you?" Jim shouted. "This man is practically your father. Why you jostling him up?"

Freddy shoved the man's foot away, desperate to explain. Jim obeyed, and Freddy struggled to his feet. After a few attempts, he was standing and jogging over to Fredbear and Hopper's limp bodies. His running caused loud bangs against the tile floor, sending Jim and Alby's hands to their ears. "Good Lord, Freddy, calm down!"

Freddy pointed at Fredbear and Hopper, his eyes pleading. Jim stared at him blankly. "What? What is it?" he pressed.

Freddy had never felt such frustration. He pointed again at their empty eye sockets.

Jim's face screwed up with confusion. It was obvious that he was trying to wrap his brain around the subject of Freddy's outburst. Slowly, understanding filled his gaze. After a moment, Jim threw up his hands. "Oh... Oh! That." He set them back on his waist. "Ha, should a' known. Probably got a little freaked out, huh?"

Freddy's eyes darted between the two technicians. How could they be so calm about this? The yellow characters were practically dead! Freddy gave him a cold stare.

Jim waved his hands frantically, laughing. "Calm down there, buddy! Lemme explain!"

Jim disappeared around the parapet wall for a few moments before coming back around with the rods from earlier in his grasp. It was a tangle of miscellaneous metal and wires. Though, now he had two collections of rods in each hand. Freddy peered closer before realizing that each messy tangle of rods formed a sort of shape, and each had a pair of eyes somewhere on it.

Jim held them up with a friendly grin. "Remind you of anything?" When Freddy only blinked, Jim held them next to the exoskeletons of Fredbear and Hopper. Of course! They were endoskeletons! He should have known from the pair of red eyes and the pair of green eyes. Freddy nodded slowly, but a wave of panic came over him. Why had the endoskeletons been removed? Could they be put back in? Would his friends be the same afterwards?

Jim gently set the endoskeletons back down. "See? The ol' boys are fine. Had to take out their endoskeletons today because they were out of energy." He noticed Freddy's confusion, and a hint of pride reflected in his eyes. "Your ability to comprehend things is absolutely incredible. Anyhow, you deserve an explanation." He leaned against the wall, and Alby nervously went back to tinkering with Bonnie. Jim suddenly bit his lip. He probably thought it was slightly ridiculous to be having a conversation with a robot bear.

_Don't worry, I'm not just a bucket of bolts,_ Freddy thought.

Jim cleared his throats. "Your buddies are Spring Models. I'm sure you already knew that much, but I doubt you knew what it meant."

The bear suddenly realized that he truly did _not_ know what this meant, and it hadn't occurred to him that the name was of any importance until now. Freddy tapped into his AI chip, searching for an explanation, only to find that his little dictionary didn't have one. He shook his head.

Jim nodded. "Being Spring Models means that they have removable endoskeletons. See how Hopper's hands have five fingers, unlike yours which have only four? It's so that a person has the ability to wear his exoskeleton. Fredbear has a hand with four fingers like you, so we remove them and give the wearer some yellow gloves. It was a little error that I made while designing him."

Freddy started to nod, the picture forming in his mind. But why would they need to have somebody wear the suits? He held up his hands, trying to put forth the question.

Jim pressed on. "You don't have a removable endoskeleton. If we took yours out, you'd be broken for good. We'd have to rebuild you. Hopper and Fredbear have removable ones so that we can quickly change their dialogue during special festivities, or, on rare occasions, walk around outside. We wouldn't want a full-blown robot outside the restaurant – it's too risky. They could get damaged. And programming new songs and speeches takes time, so if we want a special Halloween or birthday or Christmas show or something, we can just have a guy slip on the suit, memorize a script and some songs real quick and do whatever we need way faster."

Freddy nodded again. He was slightly relieved that his endoskeleton was not removable. The thought of some stranger wearing his skin made him extremely uncomfortable.

"We took out their endoskeletons today because they were totally out of power. Looks like you kept 'em up all night." Rather than scolding the bear, he gave a friendly smile. Freddy was glad for this. "We had a show today, and no time to charge 'em up. So we had two employees throw on the suits and do their job for them today. I was actually in the process of putting their endoskeletons back in when you gave Al a scare."

Freddy felt relief wash over him, followed by a wave of guilt. He'd terrified poor Alby when he'd done nothing wrong. Freddy drooped his ears sheepishly at Jim, who waved his apology off. "Forget it, Fred. You didn't know. If I were you, I'd have flipped, too." He patted Freddy on the shoulder. "But now, we can go ahead and get them put back together. It'll only take about thirty minutes or so."

Freddy nodded, stepping back to let Jim resume his work. His eyes wandered to Alby, who was still working on the rabbit. Freddy felt another wave of emotion hit him, but this time it had a different name: curiosity.

Just as Jim had promised, Fredbear and Hopper were fixed in less than thirty minutes, their endoskeletons refitted. After fifteen more minutes of charging, Freddy noticed Hopper's eyes start to glow. His eyelids were left open on accident.

Once the casual red color had returned, he began to blink and move his jaw up and down. Freddy grinned, relieved to finally be able to talk to somebody. "Mornin', sunshine."

Hopper rubbed his face. "Agh… I _hate _when they do that… and top it off with low battery. Bad mix."

Freddy crossed his arms. "You okay?"

Hopper nodded, still rubbing his forehead. "Fine, fine. It just really ruptures your endoskeleton when they remove and refit it. And I've been out of battery for almost twenty-four hours. Let's just say it doesn't tickle."

Freddy chuckled, and after a moment, Fredbear woke up as well. He gave a similar aching groan, rubbing his chest where most of their power source and artificial intelligence usage was. "Ugh…"

Hopper grinned at the bear, some color returning to his face. "Aww, is the teddy bear tired?"

"Shut up, bolt bucket, you went through the same thing." Fredbear continued rubbing his head, frustration and discomfort obvious in his tone. "God…"

"Eh," Hopper grunted. "You'll feel better in a few minutes." Hopper crossed his arms then looked at Freddy. "How'd you hold up while we were… 'away'?"

"I… may or may not have slightly attacked Alby." Freddy rubbed his arm in embarrassment.

Both Spring Models looked at him with alarm. "What?" Fredbear snapped.

Freddy waved his hands dismissively. "No, no, no! He's fine, nobody was hurt. I just saw you two and got… y'know, worried."

"So… you attacked our technician?" Hopper asked in disbelief.

"I… er… thought he might have… _done _something to you guys." Freddy looked at the floor tiles. He felt unbelievably embarrassed at his actions, wishing he could forget the terrified look in the kindly old technician's brown eyes.

"Well, great to know you've got our backs, bolt bucket," Hopper said. His expression was unreadable until the next statement. "Feel lucky they didn't put you out of order, you idiot."

Fredbear didn't even bother defending Freddy against Hopper's scathing remark. "You can't just go attacking people when things seem scary. There's always an explanation."

_There's always an explanation. _Something about that sentence caught Freddy's attention. Before he could go too deep into thought, there was an excited shout from Alby. "Jim! Jim, c'mere! I got it! I got it workin'!"

Freddy, Fredbear and Hopper all looked over in unison. Alby had jumped to his feet, and Jim had come running. He threw the rag he was holding to the floor, and a look of glee filled his face. "It's ready? It's really, really ready?"

Alby gave him two thumbs up. "Yessiree! Go ahead, flip the switch!"

Jim grinned and – to the three animatronics' utter surprise – marched over to the rabbit and reached a hand toward the open circuit board. Connecting a couple of wires and checking some calculations on a notepad he was holding, Jim flipped a collection of switches and closed the chest panel. Stepping back, he put his hands on his hips and smiled wide. He winked at the animatronics. "Ready to meet Bon?"

Freddy was sure his gears had stopped turning at the news. The rabbit – Bonnie – was finally coming to life!

Suddenly, the entire robot gave a lurching shudder, and two pinkish-red eyes blinked awake. They glanced around, taking in the sights of the Parts &amp; Service room. The brand new gaze settled on the five residents of the space. With a goofy grin, it spoke a simple English word that even the animatronics knew well.

"Hi!"

* * *

**Introducing Bon, our precious cinnamon roll! I've been waiting to write him in – we need our favorite goofball! I need to make him more goofy on my ask account. He just hasn't gotten enough questions!**

**How've y'all been? Good? Bad? Cool? Eh? Idk.**

**This chapter was way longer than I expected. I just kind of got to writing and couldn't stop xD Next chapter will hopefully be a little less word wall-ish. **

**As for other stuff. I've been reading the Maze Runner series! I'm a little more than halfway through Death Cure, the final book of the regular series! Omg, it's amazing! I finished the Divergent trilogy a few weeks ago, and it was also awesome! I highly recommend both!**

**So, anybody watch the World Series? Spoiler alert if you didn't already know: the Royals won! Great job, Boys in Blue! I'm a resident of Kansas, so we were ecstatic! Get this. School was out today! Yep. They actually cancelled school so that people could go see the parade! I was there, and it was great!**

**Thanks for reading, and see y'all next chappie!**


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